2010 NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals - Into The Fire

The Heat Was On Again At The NMRA's All-Star Nationals At zMax Dragway

Michael JohnsonAssociate Editor

November 29, 2010

Photos By:
Paul Rosner

Pro Outlaw 10.5

With the weekend's intense heat, even the Pro Outlaw 10.5 guys were struggling with traction. Mike Murillo spun on a couple occasions, but he was able to get it together long enough to take the win over Dwayne James in the final with a 6.98 at 219 mph.

Dwayne James and his ProCharger-equipped Pro Outlaw 10.5 Mustang has the front half of the track figured out. The B-Team's trouble is with the back half and the lack of speed that has plagued the car for most of the year. It seems the car has been losing boost as it goes down the track. However, Dwayne and the B-Teamers have been testing back home in ABQ and they think they have it figured out. If that's the case, watch for Dwayne to make the Pro Outlaw show more than a two-man class. In other Pro Outlaw 10.5 news from zMAX, Conrad Scarry's Mustang suffered weekend-ending engine damage, rendering them helpless in the championship points battle.

Super Street Outlaw

In Super Street Outlaw, Johnny MacDonald was supposed to meet Filthy Phil Hines in Round 1, but Phil was a no-show due to mechanical damage so Johnny basically had a bye run. Interestingly, every first-round race was a bye as John Urist was supposed to be matched-up against Andrew Demarco, but Andrew had his own problems to deal with. No matter for Johnny Mac, as he had a competition bye into the final, where he would meet John Urist. However, Johnny U. went red to end the race before it started and hand J-Mac the win.

It's safe to say this hasn't been John Urist's year as he's had assorted issues throughout 2010. However, John and A-Team have soldiered on. Besides the mechanical woes, one area he has uncharacteristically struggled with is his reaction times. They've been inconsistent, and he's redlit his way back to the trailer a few times this year, including in the final against Johnny Mac. We know he loves the heavy metal bellowing from his hauler. Maybe that's got him too hyped when he goes up to the line. He might be in a hurry to get back to the trailer to listen to his favorite headbangin' hits...we dunno. John still sits within shouting distance of first place in points, but he needs a strong finish to repeat as six-time champion.

Drag Radial

True to form, the slick-tire cars were unable to make clean passes, so the drag radial guys were flyin'. Jason Lee certainly had his wings on. He answered the qualifying bell with a 7.98 at 175 mph. Jason had a bye run for the first round, and then Sean Lyon redlit Jason's way into the final. Even in Sunday's heat, Jason was able to run an 8.11 to take the win over a resurgent Chad Doyle.

Chad Doyle came back with a vengeance this year. He's steadily made strides at each event, sneaking up on the tune-up and best taking advantage of his Roush Competition Engines powerplant. Like Jason Lee, Chad runs a direct-drive ProCharger up front. As such, Chad is quickly making his fellow drag-radial racers wish he were still on the sidelines. Chad had the highest mph in qualifying, and he was able to better Brian Tuten's best pass so far in drag-radial trim to get to Jason Lee in the finals. However, Chad had a bit too much power for the pavement as he went up in smoke just enough for Jason Lee to get the victory.